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Grizzlies Re-Sign Marreese Speights

July 13 2012 at 5:02pm CDT By Luke Adams

JULY 13TH, 5:02pm: The Grizzlies have officially re-signed Speights, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 6TH, 8:43am: Speights' two-year deal is actually worth almost $9MM and has a second-year player option, rather than a team option, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. As I noted below, the terms initially reported seemed awfully team-friendly, so this makes more sense.

7:48am: The Grizzlies and forward Marreese Speights have agreed to terms on a two-year contract, reports Chris Sherrington of the Memphis Flyer. According to Sherrington, the two-year deal is in the $7-8MM range, with a team option for a second year. While he didn't confirm the terms, Speights himself confirmed via Twitter that he and the Grizzlies have an agreement, tweeting"Yessir I am going back to #grizznation!! This year yessir!!!!!"

Speights, 24, was traded from the Sixers to the Grizzlies in January, and notched career-highs in PPG (8.8), RPG (6.2), and MPG (22.4), among other stats. The 6'10" big man was eligible for restricted free agency and received a qualifying offer from Memphis — Sherrington puts the value of that offer at about $3.8MM, but I believe it was actually closer to $4.39MM, since Speights started 54 games for the Grizz, meeting the CBA's starter criteria. In that case, a two-year deal for $7-8MM seems like a very solid value for the club.

The Grizzlies aren't ruling out also bringing back restricted free agent Darrell Arthur, but will have to keep a close eye on their cap situation. If Speights has a first-year salary of, for instance, $3.5MM, the Grizzlies' guaranteed salary for 2012/13 will surpass $66MM, making it likely that the team approaches the luxury tax threshold of $70.31MM.